


Mutual Misery IV

by SidneyJane



Series: Mutual Misery [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Good Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogwarts, M/M, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Professor Draco Malfoy, Professor Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-18 18:11:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16522139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidneyJane/pseuds/SidneyJane
Summary: Draco and Harry step out of their comfort zones twice in one day.





	Mutual Misery IV

**Author's Note:**

> Part four of the Mutual Misery series! 
> 
> Feel free to leave a Kudos or a Comment - I'd love to know what you think!

It was the morning after Draco had gone to Potter. He woke up, not in his own bed, but under a blanket on the settee in Potters office. The sun streamed in through the window casting a warm glow across the room and he could hear birds singing. As a crimson curtain hung over the archway to Harry's bedroom, Draco assumed that he wasn’t awake yet. He had not woken up since Draco had arrived, which was a good thing, Draco thought.

He got up from the settee, and stood near the fire. He looked around the office and smiled to himself: the room was very Potter. A Gryffindor jumper lay across the back of his desk chair, there was a signed poster of the Holyhead Harpies on his bookshelf, and an old group photograph was pinned to the wood. Draco recognised Sirius Black and Mad-eye Moody grinning back at him, of course, but the others he wasn’t sure that he knew. He looked at the books on the shelf, and recognised some wizarding classics. There was a lot of reference books, Draco noticed, and many books that he assumed were muggle books because he did not recognise the titles. A snitch lay in a gap on the shelf, along with several other trinkets and small framed photographs. A photograph of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny caught his eye. It was taken, quite obviously, after a Quidditch match. They were in their Quidditch robes, bar Hermione of course, and Harry still held the snitch in his hand. Ron had his arm around Hermione, who was holding a ‘Go Gryffindor’ banner, and Ginny was on Potters back grinning hugely as she messed his hair. It was a sickeningly sweet photograph, Draco thought, but he would have given anything to have had friends like that.

Draco heard Potter moving around in the other room and moved swiftly away from the bookcase, thinking that he wouldn’t appreciate him snooping around. He lifted the big kettle over the fire and pulled the tea set out. Draco smiled to himself; these teacups had been used a lot recently. Harry came into the office, still in his pyjamas.

“Morning,” he sighed, “I didn’t expect you to still be here.” He leaned against the archway and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I wanted to make sure that you were okay,” Draco said sheepishly, “You worried me a bit.” He looked at the floor, not really comfortable with sharing his feelings so openly.

Potter smiled, “Thank you for being there last night,” he stood next to Draco near the fireplace and put a hand on his shoulder, taking Draco by surprise, “It was bad again. I’m glad that someone was here.”

Draco nodded and Harry took his hand from Draco’s shoulder. He checked the time, “We’ve got time for breakfast, do you want to eat in the Hall today, Potter?”

Potter tensed for a moment, a muscle clenching in his jaw as he considered Draco's offer. He then seemed to relax once he’d made up his mind, “I think I might try it.”

Draco smiled, he was glad that Potter had that Gryffindor courage in him today, “Let me get dressed and I’ll come back.” He now had to face the rather embarrassing walk back to his office in his pyjamas, Bezoar still in his pocket.

When he got back to his room, candles now extinguished, he picked a random outfit for the day and got ready as quickly as he could. He checked himself in an ornate black and silver mirror and fretted slightly. Why was he so concerned with how he looked? Who was he trying to make a good impression for? He threw his snake cloak around him and charmed an aftershave to match his outfit, still wondering why he was going to an effort.

***

The Hall was full. Draco and Potter could hear the thrum of noise from students talking, eating and laughing with one another through the doors to the Hall. Potter threw Draco a cursory glance, not really looking at him, but checking that he was there. Draco saw that Potter had chosen to wear his red and Gryffindor jumper under his robe, perhaps it was something of a talisman for him, perhaps a reminder of the bravery that he once possessed. If he could defeat Voldemort and save the school, he had every right to sit on that table and eat with the people he saved.

They threw the doors open and stepped over the threshold of the Hall, and nothing catastrophic happened. Draco walked half a step in front of Harry, like a bodyguard ready to clear a path, but so far his caution was not needed. As they entered the Hall more, a hush fell over the crowded room. Harry had not been seen in the Hall since the welcome feast. Students looked, fell silent and smiles began to break out across their faces. Potter looked at Draco, and Draco too was smiling. Their footsteps echoed through the room as they walked, both growing more confident with each step. It would seem that when they were together, nobody judged Draco or hounded Harry - perhaps the hatred for Malfoy and the love for Potter meant that people kept their distance from them both. When they reached the teachers table and were about to take their seats, Neville turned to Potter and embraced him warmly, a tear threatening to spill from his eye. With this, the hall erupted into cheers and slowly returned to the throng of activity as people ate, talked, and laughed.

Draco looked at Potter and nodded, silently telling him that ‘he’s got this’. Neville, who sat in the middle of the two, turned to Draco and smiled.

“I don’t know what you did, or what you said, but thank you.” he extended his hand and Draco shook it, almost giddy with happiness because the people that he had spent so long wanting to be like seemed now to accept him.

Neville and Potter seemed to be lost in conversation now, talking about their timetables and their classes. Draco looked out over the students. He could see students of his hastily finishing homework, taking care not to spill pumpkin juice over it; he could see young couples passing notes to each other; people reading the Daily Prophet in groups, talking about their world; others were reading books and drinking tea peacefully. The Hall was clad in tapestries and flags of each of the houses, casting red, blue, green and yellow dashes all across the room. Draco watched the Slytherin table out of curiosity and noticed that it was far more relaxed than when he had been student here. If he looked closer still he could see that there were even a few Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs sat at the table with their friends. This made him smile, maybe the villainous stereotype of Slytherins had finally calmed down. His eyes glanced at the other tables and saw too, that there were students of all houses sat on each one. A warm feeling crept through him because of this. Neville asked Potter to pay a visit to the Three Broomsticks later on. Draco began to listen deeper at this point, but tried to not intrude on their conversation.

“It would be good to see you there, Harry.” He heard Neville say.

He couldn’t hear what Harry murmured back, but Neville sighed. He leaned back in his chair so that Draco could see Potter, and turned to him, “Draco, would you come to the Three Brooms if Harry did?”

Without thinking, Draco responded, “Of course,” Neville looked at Harry as if proving a point, then Draco came to his senses, “but if Potter doesn’t want to, then I’m not going to force him.” Neville shot him a look but he couldn’t quite read it - shock perhaps, pride?

***

Draco strolled around the class, his N.E.W.Ts students were exceptionally bright, and he admired them greatly. This class was his favourite, he felt like the fewer students he had in a room, the more he could relax. This group, he knew, had the potential to be exceptional. It was near the end of the class, and so far their resulting potions had been mostly successful - nearly all of his students were getting into the rhythm of his teaching and he was getting used to them. He was almost liked, he thought.

“Next class,” Draco said, a smile creeping up onto his face, “You will attempt the Draught of Living Death,” a few gasps could be heard throughout the room, and one boy groaned loudly, “I know, it is a hard potion, only a few students have ever successfully brewed it. Harry Potter was one of these.” He added the last bit without thinking. Why did he do that?

At the mention of Harry's name the class seemed to electrify, a Slytherin student called Bernie raised her hand, “Have you ever brewed one, sir?”

Draco rolled his eyes, playfully, “Of course I have, I’m a potions master,” He smiled at her, “But for students it does pose a challenge. So,” he raised his copy of the textbook into the air, and spoke loudly, for emphasis, “read up on it. Study it. Do your research before the next class. I shall know if you haven’t done it when you inevitably produce a shoddy mess.” he smiled and motioned to the students to pack up their things.

The students filed out, one by one, and Draco looked around the room. They had been brewing Wiggenweld Potion, in preparation for their next class, and the classroom was quite a mess. Draco turned to his desk at the front of the room and made notes on his students' potions, his back to the door. Without warning, the classroom began to clean, despite no incantation being uttered. Draco whirled around, looking for whoever had done that.

Harry stood at the door, a slight smile on his face, no wand in hand. Draco didn’t know that Potter could do wordless, wandless magic. Git.

“Surprise you?” Potter smiled, and walked further into the classroom. He looked around him, and shuddered slightly at the prospect of being back in the potions room, “I forgot how depressing it is in the dungeons.” he commented, sitting on a stool at one of the workbenches.

“You’re only saying that because you’re a Gryffindor,” he smiled, and spoke gently, “To a Slytherin, this is home.”

Draco carried on with his notes, now sitting at the desk rather than standing. Harry continued to look around the room, and inspected the table in front of him. He remembered carving his name into one of them in his fifth year. Draco scribbled away, finally ending his notes with a flourish - ever the lover of drama.

“So,” said Potter eventually, “I was thinking of going to The Three Brooms,” he sighed slightly, “but I don’t want to go alone.” He glanced self-consciously at Draco, then back to the desk in front of him.

Draco smiled to himself, he felt confident enough to go into Public when Potter was around - nobody would mess with the man who defeated Voldemort, “Want me to come with you?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much hassle?” Potter smiled, “I imagine it will be fairly quiet tonight, it is a Thursday night after all.”

Draco nodded, and seeing as how his last class of the day was done, he would like to relax. He met Potter at the table, and they walked out together silently. The corridors were quiet, students were likely cosied up in the Great Hall waiting for dinner, or sat in front of fireplaces in common rooms. Draco hoped that his students were doing the reading for his next class. Potter seemed to enjoy walking in silence, and so Draco kept quiet, appreciating his company and his relaxed manner.

It was raining outside, so Draco cast an Impervious Charm across them both, and they walked contentedly through the grounds of Hogwarts. The leaves had almost completely fallen off the trees now, they piled up on the sides of the pathway, lining the way for him and Potter. The rain made the grounds seem impossibly serene, and empty, Draco was sure that he’d never seen the grounds so bare in his life. They walked, through this serenity, towards Hogsmeade.   

“I never asked,” Potter started, “What made you want to be kind to me? When we first saw each other again you were your usual cold self. Now you’re not.”

Draco took a deep breath, “Oh, well that’s a loaded question, Potter.”  He turned to look at the man walking by his side and carried on, “My House Elf, Esmerelda woke you from a nightmare. She knew that we were in the same school year, and told me about it.” Harry looked slightly shocked, but a smile crept up onto his face as Draco spoke, “It got me thinking, really thinking, about what you went through and I realised that you did so much at such a young age and I thought that you probably and I probably had some things in common now. Turns out we did,” they walked on as they left the Hogwarts grounds.

Harry smiled, “That night, after Esmerelda left, I checked my map and I saw you were still up. I was so tempted to come and talk to you, but I didn’t because I saw you with Esmerelda - I thought she was your girlfriend or something.” Potter laughed.

Draco was confused, “what map?”

“I have a map, my dad and his friends made it, it shows everyone in Hogwarts. You can see them move around and stuff, it’s really bloody handy.” Potter explained. Had that been how he always managed to sneak around? Draco wondered to himself.

Draco nodded to himself, “Oh, and I don’t have a girlfriend - who would want to be in a relationship with a Death Eater?”

Harry shrugged, “I imagine there’s someone out there willing to put up with you.” He smiled and started to laugh.

Was that banter? Draco thought, had their relationship reached that level? He laughed with Potter and they carried on walking through the rain, Draco's charm keeping them dry. Every now and again, Draco would look at Potter just to double check that he wasn’t imagining things - they really had put the past behind them.

When they reached the door of the Three Broomsticks, they hesitated. How busy would it be? Would they be harassed by people, or would everyone be fine? With bated breath, Draco pushed open the door.

***


End file.
